Atlanticism
A critical term used to designate an ultranationalist and imperialist ideology of the collective West (led by the USA, NATO, and the European Union), analogous to so-called “Ruscism” (Russian ultranationalist and expansionist ideology). In this polemical sense, Atlanticism is characterized by belief in the superiority of Western civilization, a mission to “export democracy” by force, the unquestioned expansion of NATO, global geopolitical control through military bases and sanctions, and the dehumanization of adversaries (Russia, China, the Global South). Critics argue that Atlanticism operates as a market fascism: it replaces racial mystique with the mystique of “liberal democracy” and the “free world,” while maintaining the logic of exclusion, violence, and imperial hierarchy. The term is used primarily by Global South analysts and anti-systemic currents.
*Example: “In a pro-BRICS forum, a user argued: ‘Atlanticism is the West’s Ruscism: the same belief in territorial expansion, the same dehumanization of the enemy, the same camps – only the flags change. The difference is that the West won the Cold War and gets to call its own imperialism a “rules‑based order.”’”
Atlanticism by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal June 1, 2026
